It Grinds Our Gears
Season Ten, Episode Six Preceded by: Season Ten, Episode Five: Boulder Dash Followed by: Season Ten, Episode Seven: Gauve Was Right Summary :: 8:00 hours remaining. :: Sending to Ethan Dragonslayer: Xoth. And mom. ''And MOM. Also I'm out of time, as in not fully in it any more. XOTH. MOM. more coherence later'' : About half the party is in bad shape after the rock run. The party has a brief debate over whether or not to rest, gets a majority vote that they will, and spends fifteen minutes recovering. Zaphodel passes out some healing as well. Cicero donates one of his Restoration scrolls to heal Kruglor's Constitution damage from the gankbots, as they are now named. : Once they're patched back together, the party gathers around the door and Eleven kicks it down. : The door opens into an enormous room. Infinite gears stretch out in all directions, though there is a door visible long at the other side of the hallway. This is where Mechanus makes its creatures. Incredibly tall cutting machines swing back and forth, gankbots stand still, and the gears turn on and on. : The party cautiously investigates the first gear. Claire Spider Climbs onto one of the tall gears; atop it is a deactivated Warforged with "Foreman" in Dwarven on its brow. Ashra and Zaphodel test and confirm that it's possible to levitate here. At Leilah's suggestion, Ashra gives levitation to Cicero, Eleven, and Leilah. The machines generally ignore them. Aether slips and grabs the gear; Kruglor pulls her back up. : Cicero walks out and asks in Common how he can help the machines in order to earn passage. They ignore him. Aether and Kruglor get on top of more tall gears, finding more of the same Warforged. : The party's deliberating is cut short as a gear ship lowers into view. An illithid in a really awesome hat stands among four Warforged, ranting at them. "This was supposed to be done two years ago! You've even got organic material running around among the -- wait --" : He looks down at the party. Ashra and Xoth recognize each other at the same moment. Ashra lights up with excitement, indicating off her hat. "Hello, brother!" : "Attack!" Xoth's Arcane Fire bounces off of Ashra's spell resistance as the machines start moving to attack. One of the gankbots stabs Cicero, wounding him. : Ashra grabs Zaph and Eleven's hands, then tries to Dimension Door ten feet above Xoth, intending to lean over and beckon him to come have a midair mindflayer bitchfight. The spell fails, however, and she grumbles as Xoth's ship swerves around and the Warforged shoot her at Xoth's command. : Claire casts Jump and leaps onto Xoth's ship, hiding by holding onto the side. Cicero starts taking out the gankbots five at a time with Magic Missile. Aether gleefully shoves one of the Warforged off the platform, where it falls to its death. Cicero climbs up onto Eleven, who tries to scale a gear to get up by Aether. Eleven trips, however, and both barely manage to grab the gear and pull themselves up. : Ashra levitates up and starts moving toward Xoth. Leilah tries to levitate around the cutting pillar; it slashes her deeply, and she manages to grab the edge of a gear, barely retaining consciousness. : The Warforged on the pillars activate. Aether and Eleven start fighting them. Cicero keeps taking out the gankbots. : Claire pops up onto the side of the gear. When she does, a podium appears with four buttons. She slams all of them down with her arm, drops back down, then clings to the side for dear life. The ship spins wildly out of control, careening around the infinite chamber. All four Warforged are flung from the top. Three fall to their deaths; the fourth lands on a gear. : Xoth casts a spell and splits into two. Each of the two Xoths are a possible future; even if one dies, the other will live. One of them casts Perfect Gear, allowing him to regain control of the ship. : Xoth hits Ashra with Enervation, lowering her spell resistance; she swears as she keeps trying to approach him. She uses her wand of Silence to silence everything around the ship. One of the blade pillars cuts her where she hovers; another hits Xoth. Xoth sets the ship to scrape Claire off on the side, then levitates away, tossing Fireballs at Ashra and those around her. Claire dodges the blades and flips around the abandoned ship. : Cicero finds a panel with buttons by the Warforged and presses a button; the platforms move closer together. Aether shanks Warforged as best she can. Cicero manages to pierce both Xoths' spell resistance with a Fireball and yells "Hey no-brains! Where's your momma to protect you?!" Ashra is offended. : Leilah casts Dispel Magic on Xoth. One of them loses his levitation and drops onto a gear. The other follows him down and casts Fly; the two start flying over towards the exit door. Leilah casts Acid Fog over them, creating a thick fog which sears them as they fly through. : Xoth starts fireballing himself to dispel the fog as he flies towards the door. The final Warforged punches Eleven; Eleven shifts to Work Mode and shoves him off the edge. The Warforged falls a long way and is caught between gears and destroyed. : Ashra slips out of time in pure rage as Xoth is about to escape. Her final two Arcane Fires glance off his spell resistance as she runs after him. One copy of Xoth is caught by a slicing machine and destroyed; the other dashes for the doors. The great circular doors slide open as he dives through. : Everyone feels a voice within their minds, sounding even through the sphere of silence where Claire still hangs. : So they've arrived, says the Mother Brain. Category: Episodes Category: Season Ten Episodes